Angelina Karamesouti

Visiting researcher (University of Crete, Greece)

Functionalized bioactive glass scaffolds for tissue engineering

 

Supervisors: Marcela Arango Ospina, Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Bioactive glass (BG) scaffolds have gained interest in bone tissue engineering as they provide excellent osteoconductivity, osteoinductivity and bioactive behavior. Indeed, a BG scaffold should have the ability to be a platform for cell attachment and differentiation, and controllable biodegradability matching the rate of bone formation.[1],[2] In this study, 45S5 bioactive glass-based scaffolds will be created via the well-known foam replica technique, using a fully reticulated polyester-based polyurethane foam as sacrificial templates, with the aim of producing highly porous structures.[1] Additionally, phytotherapeutic agents will be used to coat the glass-based scaffolds, in order to improve the mechanical properties of the brittle scaffolds and to impart antibacterial properties.[3] Finally, the scaffolds will be characterized with FT-IR, their density and porosity will be determined, the release rate of the phytotherapeutic agents will be measured in solution via UV-Vis, and the bioactivity will be tested using simulated body fluid. This project is funded by the Erasmus+ traineeships program (University of Crete).

[1] Chen, Q. Z., Thompson, I. D., & Boccaccini, A. R. (2006). 45S5 Bioglass®-derived glass–ceramic scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. Biomaterials, 27 (11), 2414–2425. doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2005.11.025

[2] Brauer, D. S. (2015). Bioactive Glasses-Structure and Properties. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 54 (14), 4160–4181. doi:10.1002/anie.201405310

[3] Arango-Ospina M., Lasch K., Weidinger J., Boccaccini A. R. (2021). Manuka Honey and Zein Coatings Impart Bioactive Glass Bone Tissue Scaffolds Antibacterial Properties and Superior Mechanical Properties. Frontiers in Materials, vol. 7, Article 610889. doi.org/10.3389/fmats.2020.610889